Three DUI Arrests to Start Off Palo Alto's Labor Day Weekend

The Summer/Labor Day National Anti-DUI Campaign has been in full force since Aug. 19, but has ramped up for the Labor Day weekend, with special DUI checkpoints and patrols around Santa Clara County on Friday.

From Aug. 19 through midnight Friday night, a grand total of 322 arrests were made of individuals driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, by 13 law enforcement agencies throughout the county. That is a significant increase from the same 14-day period in 2010, in which 287 arrests were made.

In Palo Alto on Friday, there were three DUI arrests, one of the highest totals in the county. Only San Jose with nine and Los Gatos with four were higher.

So far, there have been no DUI-related deaths since the start of this year’s campaign. There were no deaths during last year’s campaign.

Sgt. Troy Smith of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said there will be DUI checkpoints in unincorporated San Jose and the city of San Jose tonight, and extra “DUI saturation patrols” are planned for the cities of Cupertino, Saratoga, Los Altos Hills, San Jose, Los Gatos, Morgan Hill, Milpitas, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, as well as the San Jose State University campus, today through Sunday, Sept. 4.  On Labor Day—Monday, Sept. 5—there will be extra DUI saturation patrols deployed in the cities of Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, and again at San Jose Sate University.

Smith said all regularly scheduled traffic and patrol officers will be focusing their efforts at stopping and arresting DUI drivers during their normal shifts.  The California Highway Patrol is deploying all available officers onto freeways and county roads during its “maximum enforcement period,” which began at 6 p.m. on Friday.

The following is a breakdown of arrests made in each city between 12:01 a.m. and 11:59 p.m. Friday.

Campbell: 0

CHP - Gilroy: Info not received as of press time

Gilroy Police: 0

CHP – San Jose: 6*

San Jose Police: 9

Los Altos Police: 0

Los Gatos Police: 4

Milpitas Police: 0

Mountain View Police: 1

Palo Alto Police: 3

Santa Clara Sheriff: 1**

Sunnyvale Police: 2

San Jose State: 0

*The San Jose CHP office, which covers a wide area south of Mountain View and north of Gilroy, did not report the specific locations of the arrests.

**The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department, which covers Cupertino, Saratoga and Los Altos Hills, also did not report the location of the arrest on Friday.